Entertainment

Gingrich Is First Candidate to Activate Facebook Timeline

Newt Gingrich, ex-Speaker of the House and Republican presidential hopeful, has turned on Facebook's new profile option, Timeline.

Maybe he was inspired by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who did the same last week? Not exactly. According to Vincent Harris, who runs Gingrich's new media efforts, the team switched to Timeline because it allows the campaign to showcase Gingrich's "long record of fighting for conservative values" as well as the candidate's personal side.

On Gingrich's Timeline, his cover photo shows the candidate wide-grinned, signing autographs beside his wife Callista. His occupation is "Founder at Center for Health Transformation," Gingrich's healthcare organization. His education is in "European History at Tulane University," and he lives in McLean, Virginia.

Facebook Timeline's "Life Event" feature lets users highlight significant achievements in their lives. It's also a natural fit to show off a politician's accomplishments. On Gingrich's page, recent endorsements, such as Herman Cain and Chuck Norris, stand out with pictures of endorsers and links to relevant news articles.

Timeline, which is meant to be viewed as a biography, is well suited to a politician with a public service record as long as Gingrich has.

In that vein, Gingrich uses "Life Event" markers to highlight accomplishments that are part of his presidential campaign's message. In 1972, there's a marker for Gingrich's role as 6th district chairman for President Nixon's election. His Timeline also highlights achievements or positions that may appeal to current voters: "early supporter of tax rate reductions" in 1978, "praised Reagan's leadership" in 1984, "testified against Cap and Trade" in 2009, and so on.

Facebook Timeline does, however, have a way of boiling flavor out of events that once lit political fireworks: Gingrich's stepping down from his post as Speaker came after pressure from other Republicans, but Timeline reduces that to "1999: Ended Work at United States House of Representatives." Also, only one of Gingrich's marriages is listed, but it's unclear if this is a limitation on Facebook's part or an omission by Gingrich's team.

Facebook has a team headquartered in Washington, D.C. which helps politicians use the social network to organize. Harris said the Facebook political team helped with branding, and that they "are incredibly on the ball and serve as a good resource for campaigns," said Harris.

Gingrich has also turned on Facebook Subscribe, a feature which lets Facebook users share certain updates with the general public while keeping other messages private. As of 4:15 p.m. ET Monday, he had just over 1,000 subscribers.

What are Harris' plans for Gingrich's Facebook presence? Even with this new Timeline page up, his old "public figure" page is still running.

"The fantastic visual nature of Timeline will allow Speaker Gingrich's campaign to showcase important events, endorsements, and victories," said Harris. "We plan on utilizing both the page and Timeline in a parallel nature, at least until pages potentially update to Timeline."

Will the other candidates follow suit and jump on Timeline? What do you think of Gingrich's Timeline? Sound off in the comments below.

BONUS: How To Fill In Your Facebook Timeline

How to Fill In Your Facebook Timeline

1. The Timeline Menu Bar

As you scroll down your new Timeline, a floating menu bar will appear at the top of your screen. Use it to add new events.

2. Work and Education

Events are divided into categories. The first is "Work and Education," in which you add jobs, studies, volunteer work and military service you completed before joining Facebook.

3. Family and Relationships

Next is "Family and Relationships," where you can note engagement and marriage events. Facebook also suggests you add the birth of your child or a pet adoption here. Finally, you may feel inspired to write your reaction in the "Lost a Loved One" category.

4. Living

"Living" events include relocation, buying a home and even getting a new roommate. For anyone who likes showing off their shiny wheels, Facebook also included a new vehicle category.

5. Health and Wellness

Facebook may have overstepped the privacy concerns of some users with its "Health and Wellness" section. It provides the opportunity to tell friends about broken bones, surgery or overcoming an illness.

6. Milestones and Experiences

Finally, "Milestones and Experiences" is the catch-all category, a broad yet flexible ode to all of life's turning points. Currently you have the option to add a hobby, a new language, a license, an achievement or award, a trip and a "piercing or tattoo." Hmmm, we'll all be looking forward to the pics, that's for sure.

7. "Other Life Event"

Facebook also allows user to add an "Other Life Event" to each category for circumstances that don't fit into its pre-set milestones.

8. Adding an Event

When you add an event, a pop-up window appears for you to complete simple fields relevant to said event. You can add more info via the "Story" box, and attach a suitable photo, either from pics you've already uploaded to Facebook or from your computer.

9. Privacy Options

Note that events you add to your Timeline default to "public" view. If you want to keep your events private to your friends, you need to click the drop-down menu on the bottom of the window to set your preferred privacy level. As well as selecting just your friends, you can also include relevant groups or set up a custom option.

10. The Event in Your Timeline

Once you've added and saved your event, it will show up large in your Timeline display, taking up a two-column space. We presume that because you've taken the time to add it, Facebook deems the event important to you.

11. Minimizing Events in Your Timeline

If this isn't the case, you can shrink the event down to one-column size. To minimize, click the star at the top-right of the event box.

12. Hiding or Deleting Events

You can also edit, hide or delete events from the same menu.

13. Your Recent Activity

Be aware that when you add an event to your Timeline, Facebook notifies your friends via the "Recent Activity" module. If you were hoping to fill in your Timeline with little attention, you can remove the alert by hovering over it and hitting the "X."

15. Adding Events Directly in the Timeline

Alternatively you can add events directly in the Timeline. This is a convenient feature, as you may find that looking back through your Timeline's existing content jogs your memory. To add an event in the Timeline just hover over the central blue line. Click the plus symbol that appears to add whatever kind of event suits your fancy.

16. And You?

We suspect the average Facebook user may add a few milestone events to fill in the blanks of their online past. On the other hand, maybe you're not willing to take the time to detail your past so thoroughly.

What do you think? Will you fill in your Timeline? Will your mom fill in hers? Will you click through to see other's Timeline events as they add them? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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